Diamond Midfield Session
Part 4: 11v11 Functional Game
By Justin Faust
This 11v11 functional game is designed to bring the Midfield Diamond to life in a realistic match environment. Players are challenged to recognize passing angles, create overloads, and maintain strong positional relationships between the 6, 8s, and 10. The drill emphasizes movement off the ball, combination play through central areas, and quick transitions to support both attacking progression and defensive balance. In Figure 1, I have broken up the field into 3rds, with each group of players restricted to that particular channel. This will force players to know their specific responsibility within their team's structure.
Figure 1
After 5 minutes I allow a player from each channel to release themselves into another channel offensively, while they are in possession, to make the game a little less restrictive (Figure 2). This also will allow more players to get into the attack. However, players may not move more than 1 channel offensively (Defender into forward channel). I then allow there to be 2 players allowed to release offensively (Figure 3), as this will create even more numbers into the attack.
Figure 2
Figure 3
The last progression I like to make is very simple. I remove the cones and let the kids play! This free play is not free however. I focus on the yellows and their diamond shape to encourage their movements in and out of possession.
